I am the co-founder and CEO of Zenger Folkman, a strengths-based leadership development firm that created a methodology that enables leaders to move faster and higher. My work with my colleagues at Zenger Folkman has led to statistically significant improvements in how leaders lead, how their employees engage and how their companies profit; allowing both leaders and organizations to soar to new heights.
I am considered a world expert in the field of leadership development, and am a highly respected and sought after speaker, consultant and executive coach. I have authored or co-authored over a hundred articles on leadership, productivity, learning, training and measurement. I am the best-selling author or co-author of 12 books, including How To Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success by Magnifying Your Strengths , The Extraordinary Leader, Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders (McGraw-Hill, 2002), The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate, command The Extraordinary Coach: How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow, and Results-Based Leadership, (Harvard Business School Press, 1999) voted by SHRM as the Best Business Book in the year 2000, Not just for CEO's – Sure-Fire Success Secrets for the Leader in Each of Us (Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996); and Making 2 + 2 = 5: 22 Action Steps to Boost Productivity (Irwin, 1997). I am a co-author of three books on teams, including the best-selling, Self-Directed Work Teams: The New American Challenge
In 2011 I was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Training and Development, their highest recognition for contributions to the workforce learning and development profession.

Are You Guilty of Leadership's Fatal Flaw?

The fatal flaw of leadership can be remedied with an approachable attitude and making leadership a team effort.

Average CEO tenure has plummeted from an average of 10 years in 2000 to 5-8 years today. We recently analyzed data on more 35,000 corporate leaders who received 360-degree feedback from approximately 500,000 respondents and discovered a few reasons why these leaders may be tiring sooner.

Not surprisingly, leaders who receive the highest scores produce the best results in virtually every organizational outcome including customer satisfaction, employee retention, employee engagement, productivity and profitability. But leaders with the lowest scores were twice as likely to score low in the very skills that are needed to lead—skills such as building relationships, teamwork and collaboration, and inspires and motivates others.

Bottom line, about one-fourth of all leaders have what we call a fatal flaw—some competency below the 10th percentile that is preventing them from creating an effective leadership team. No wonder they find leadership to be stressful and only last for the short-term.

What could be done to make the role of being a leader less stressful, more rewarding, and, heaven forbid, a lot more fun? We think that this is not only possible, but here are examples of it we see happening in a variety of organizations:

1. Build a leadership team

Say the word “leader” and the imagery in most people’s minds is an individual in front of a group, firing up listeners with stirring rhetoric. Or, the leader may be leading a charge up a hill with the troops following close behind. That simplistic picture of leadership is deeply imbedded in our psyche, but this is where the problem begins. Effective leaders recognize that their organizations need a leadership team, rather than a solo act. They operate on the premise that “none of us is as smart as all of us,” and they see their job as creating a process by which the work can get done without having to personally do it all themselves.

2. Be approachable and human

A leadership team requires a different style than a solo leader. Leaders need to operate in a way that treats everyone around them with great respect. Indra Nooyi, Pepsico CEO, recently remarked that the leaders of the future will be less imperious. They will be more approachable and human, and they will listen to others rather than telling people what to do.

3. Work together

The leaders who succeed are those who recognize that, while they are responsible for success, this is a team effort. This is very analogous to me and singing. I enjoy singing good music in a chorus with other people. My voice is not a solo voice, and when asked to do that, I always respectfully decline. That’s way more unneeded stress than I want to absorb. Frankly, being part of a group takes the pressure off, and makes it fun for me (and I suspect more fun for those listening).

Although leadership can be stressful at times, it can be fun if you learn to enjoy singing in a chorus.

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